The present invention relates to a portable respiratory assist system which can be used by non-experienced individuals to treat medical emergencies and to alert medical responder services.
Systems for treating medical emergencies are routinely used in hospital settings or ambulances. Such systems generally include an oxygen source, suction devices to clear obstructed airways, as well as crash carts which can be used for heart defibrillation.
Since such systems are dedicated for use by professional trained personnel in hospital systems' they are useless when a patient is in transit or in emergencies which cannot be treated at a hospital by professional personnel.
In order to overcome these limitations, attempts have been made to provide some form of a mobile system that can be used away from the hospital settings. Unfortunately most of these devices are very cumbersome and have failed to properly address the problem of providing an easy to use, rapidly deployable portable system for providing respiratory support. In addition, these systems typically require an operator with experience and as such cannot be used by a layperson.
The resuscitation apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,999 attempts to overcome some of the limitations described above by providing a resuscitation unit which guides proper resuscitation. This apparatus includes a neck support unit for enabling head tilting suitable for airway opening and a rhythm unit for indicating to an operator the correct heart message and ventilation pace.
Although the above described apparatus simplifies the resuscitation procedure, it is configured such that functional components thereof are exposed to potential damage during transport while being cumbersome to deploy and operate in emergency situations.
Therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a portable resuscitation system that is lightweight and rapidly deployable while also being configured such that the functional components of the system are protected from damage during transport and use.